AMD pulls dual-core server chips from lineup

In today's podcast: AMD pulls dual-core server chips from lineup; RealNetworks CEO defends RealDVD in court; and Baidu says business will get better.

Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes!

Advanced Micro Devices has pulled dual-core server processors from its product lineup, also cutting prices of some Opteron chips by close to 43 percent. Dual-core Opteron chips were part of AMD's earlier server processors, but were not included in an updated price list posted on Tuesday. That leaves only quad-core Opteron processors as part of AMD's server chip lineup. AMD, however, is still offering dual-core Athlon and Phenom chips for consumer desktops and laptops. It also offers triple-core Phenom chips for desktops.

RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser took the stand Tuesday in his company's ongoing legal battle against the motion picture industry, arguing that RealNetworks' DVD-copying software is not designed to create a free-for-all of illegal copying. Real's CEO argued that RealDVD, was "absolutely not" designed to facilitate the widespread mass copying of DVDs. The software was abruptly pulled from the market by court order after the major studios sued RealNetworks, just weeks after RealDVD was introduced in September 2008. The legal dispute has pitted the technology industry against Hollywood. RealNetworks argues that its software simply gives legitimate users the freedom and convenience of storing their own DVDs on a PC, and with the motion picture industry arguing that RealDVD could be used to do things such as make illegal copies of rented DVDs.

Top Chinese search engine Baidu forecast a recovery in its ad sales this spring as it reported a second consecutive decline in quarterly revenue on Tuesday. Baidu's sales in the January to March quarter fell after it removed paid ad listings from unlicensed medical and pharmaceutical vendors at the end of 2008. They were pulled in response to public uproar after China's state-owned broadcaster revealed them amid a nationwide poisoning scandal over melamine appearing in dairy products. Those removals combined with the weak economy and a slowdown during the week-long Chinese New Year holiday to reduce revenue, Baidu said in a statement.

Nokia will layoff 450 employees as the Finnish phone giant refocuses its services to take better advantage of third-party developers, it announced on Tuesday. The job cut comes on the heels of Nokia's first quarter report, which showed the company had sold 93.2 million phones, a steep drop from the 113.1 million it sold during the fourth quarter of 2008. These layoffs are the latest in a line of cuts Nokia has made as it tries to grapple with dropping mobile phones sales. On Feb. 11 it announced 320 employees would be laid off, and then in March the company announced plans to cut another 1,700 workers. Nokia's goal is to lower costs by [euro]700 million, or US$910 million, by 2010.

...And those are the top stories from the IDG Global IT News Update, brought to you by the IDG News Service. I'm Sumner Lemon in Singapore. Join us again later for more news from the world of technology.